Athlon 64 X2 FX-60 vs i7-970

Place in the ranking	1385	2807
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.29	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Series	no data	2x Athlon 64 (Desktop)
Power efficiency	3.00	0.50
Architecture codename	Gulftown (2010−2011)	Toledo (2006)
Release date	19 July 2010 (14 years ago)	no data (2024 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$662	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) FX-60 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	6 (Hexa-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	12	2
Base clock speed	3.2 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	3.46 GHz	2.6 GHz
Bus rate	4.8 GT/s	1000 MHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	no data
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	no data
L3 cache	12 MB (shared)	no data
Chip lithography	32 nm	90 nm
Die size	239 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	68 °C	no data
Number of transistors	1,170 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) FX-60 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1	no data
Socket	FCLGA1366	no data
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	110 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) FX-60. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	no data
AES-NI	+	-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
PAE	36 Bit	no data

Security technologies

Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) FX-60 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	no data
EDB	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) FX-60 are enumerated here.

VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) FX-60. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	no data
Maximum memory size	24 GB	no data
Max memory channels	3	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 (Desktop) FX-60.

PCIe version

2.0

no data

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	4.28	0.60
Physical cores	6	2
Threads	12	2
Chip lithography	32 nm	90 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	110 Watt

i7-970 has a 613.3% higher aggregate performance score, 200% more physical cores and 500% more threads, and a 181.3% more advanced lithography process.

Athlon 64 X2 FX-60, on the other hand, has 18.2% lower power consumption.

The Core i7-970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Athlon 64 X2 FX-60 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-970 and Athlon 64 X2 FX-60, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.